All Eyes On Me
by nixdragon
Summary: One shot Companion/What if...? to She Will Be Loved. Alternate possibility to Genevieve Swan's run in with James and Victoria; what if Gen turned? Starts after chapter 15 of SWBL. Eventual Edward/Oc. Bella sisfic. Veeery slow updates.
1. Chapter 1

I woke gradually, feeling murky and dizzy. Immediately a man's face was inches from my own, grinning hungrily at me with handsome, glittering red eyes. He held a phone in his hand and, when he saw I was awake, he dialed a number and waited patiently as the rings buzzed through my skull like lightning through fog. After two rings, someone picked up.

I stared at the phone as he shoved it in my face. He grinned at me, seeing the dizzy pain in my face.

"It's your sister, pretty girl." He seethed.

"Isabella." I mumbled, not really understanding.

Bella's voice rang out from the phone, frantic. "Gen? Are you ok? Did something happen? Is Charlie ok?"

He brought the phone back toward him, speaking quietly into it.

"Gen?"

"Be careful not to say anything until I tell you to." The man hissed cheerfully into the phone. He was watching me with a hideous glee. "Now, Genny. I don't need to hurt you any more, do I?"

I stared at him blankly.

"No." he said. "So you will both do exactly as I say and Gen here will be fine." He patted me on the head and I winced away, my head swirling so that I had to fight to keep my stomach still. The man stood and moved away, leaving the phone on speaker so that I could hear. "Now repeat after me, and do try to sound natural. 'No, Gen. I am not coming back.'"

I couldn't hear what Isabella replied and the vampire seemed to agree that she wasn't speaking loud enough.

"I can see that this is going to be difficult." He said with a smile. "Why don't you walk into another room now so that your face doesn't ruin everything. There's no reason for your sister to suffer. As you're walking, please say, 'Gen, just listen to me.' Say it now."

"Gen, just listen to me." Isabella begged.

I stared at the man, starting to remember a little but still at a loss for what was happening, for where I was.

"There now, are you alone?" He turned back to me and grinned again, proud of himself and still hungry. "Just answer yes or no."

"Yes."

"But they can still hear you, I'm sure"

"Yes."

"Alright then. Say, 'Genevieve, you can't.'"

"Genevieve, you can't."

"I can and I will." I interrupted, words slurring.

The man was instantly before me, too fast for eye to follow. His eyes narrowed and then he casually slapped me across the face so that I felt something crack and had to whimper with the pain. I heard a laugh and turned to find the red haired woman from the day before.

"This worked out better then I'd thought." He crowed softly. "Your sister was quite easy to lure away. I was prepared to wait but… It's easier this way, isn't it? Less anxiety for you. Now I'm going to need you to get away from your friends."

I rubbed at my cheek, fighting back pain and wishing I could understand a piece of what was happening.

"Can you do that? Answer yes or no."

"No."

"I'm sorry to hear that. I was hoping that you would be a little more creative than that. Do you think you could get away from them if your sister's life depended on it? Answer yes or no."

There was a long pause. I started to stand but fell back.

"Isabella?" I asked again, focus coming with the word. "_Isabella_?"

"Yes."

"Is… wait, what are you-?" I reached out as though I could possibly snatch the phone. He slammed a hand over his mouth and knelt next to me as he finished, smiling apologetically at me.

"Very good, Bella. Now this is what you have to do. I want you to go to your mother's house. Next to the phone there will be a number. Call it, and I'll tell you where to go from there. Can you do that? Answer yes or no."

"Yes."

"Before noon, please, Bella. Your sister hasn't got all day. Have you, Genny?" He dropped the hand from my face, giving my broken jaw a pat so that I whimpered into the phone.

"It's important you don't make you friends suspicious when you go back to them. Tell them that your sister called and that she was threatening you to make you come back. Now repeat after me, 'I'm not coming back, Gen.'"

"I'm not coming back, Gen." Her voice was thick.

The man opened his mouth and then looked at me, smiling and considering his next words. "Now, 'Gen, I can't do this." He reached over and patted my hair back into place, grinning as I winced away from him. I heard the red haired woman hiss angrily.

"Gen, I… I can't do this."

"And now this is when Gen hangs up on you. I will see you soon, Bella."

Click.

He turned and grinned at me again. I looked away only to see the red haired woman creeping closer, eyes locked on the two of us with a hint of obsession.

"Who are you?" I mumbled, hysteria leaking into my voice.

They both laughed at this, filling the dark space around us with the beautiful peels of their voices: soprano and tenor, a song that thrilled through me in a wave of terror.

"Not who, Genny. What." The man said softly.

Standing, he walked away and disappeared into the darkness. A little later, there was a click and the room was flooded with light, revealing mirrors and the wooden floor of a ballet studio. I saw now that the redhead vampire was holding a camera on me, flashing a little red light as the man approached me again.

"Fine." I said, trembling. "What are you? Mafia? Serial killers?"

He laughed again. "No. Kind of." He turned to the woman. "Victoria? Give her a hint."

The woman gave him a look of stomach turning puppy love and then she handed him the camera. In the time it took me to blink she was then in front of me, staring into my brown eyes with her brilliant, bloody irises.

"You… you wear contacts?" I asked. My brain felt frayed, unable to put together what I saw with their new burst of laughter. "What the hell is _wrong_ with you people?"

"Poor, blind little human." Victoria simpered.

Human?

"Yes. Should we leave her like that?" The man wondered. "Or should we give Bella an even better surprise when she comes running in those doors?"

Victoria thought about this, looking a little excited. Then she shook her head. "No, I'm hungry, James. Waiting for the girl is going to take long enough…" She began to bob up and down a little, jittery with impatience. "Do we have to wait? The human will be upset either way…"

"No." James reached out and took the camera, holding it steady on my frightened face. "No, we are going to put on a show. And for that we need patience."

"But James…"

"No."

Victoria turned and walked off in a huff, gone in seconds. James was still looking at me.

"Poor little girl." He whispered. "This isn't your fault."

"What are you?" I demanded.

"A nightmare." James said with a shrug. "A killer." His eyebrows raised and he waved his hands as he mockingly said his next words, "An animal."

"Animal… you've been attacking those people?" I had to rest for a second: talking was sending splinters of pain through my broken jaw. "But that's impossible."

"Not for a monster like me." James said with a smile. "But all that can wait. For now, we need you to save your strength for your sister's visit tomorrow!"

"I have to sleep again?" I asked, seeing him pull out a needle.

"Yes, dear. Sorry. I know it's so much more interesting to talk with me, but…" He shook his head. "Don't want you squirming around and tempting Victoria to have an early supper, do we?"

"Sup…" I felt a sting in my neck again.

And all was black.

…

"Time to wake up, Genny."

Pain and horror washed over me as I woke up to find myself still in the ballet studio.

"You're real?" I whimpered, finding the man—James'—face before me, his red eyes flashing.

"Oh, I'm real." He said, grinning viciously. "But we can talk about that later, Genny, dear… You're sister's here."

"Isabella?" I squeaked.

"Gen!"

I looked away from James to find Bella breaking through the double doors and storming into the room, stopping short when she saw the man with me.

"Hello, Bella." He said smoothly. "I _am_ sorry about this." He reached over and smoothed my hair down, soothing me as I trembled from terror and the pain in my jaw and head.

"Sorry?" Bella said doubtfully.

"There really was no need for your sister to get involved. Victoria got a bit carried away, I'm afraid." Here he turned to me, smiling. "Speaking of which, don't try to get away, little Genny. Victoria is watching the back and you'll never make it to the front. But you realize that." He shook his head and gave me one last gentle pat on the head. "Poor little pet."

"I'm here: you can let her go." Bella said, only a slight shake in her voice.

James smiled. "I will give your strange coven this much, you humans can be quite interesting. I guess I can see the draw of observing you. It's amazing — some of you seem to have no sense of your own self-interest at all."

He stood up and walked toward my sister, stopping to cross his arms and look at her curiously. I began to look around, desperate for a way out, still not quite sure what I was dealing with. Bella and the man kept talking, he teasing her and loving the power he had over her. I saw Bella tense and her body grow stiffer as he talked about my dad and Edward, about how he'd caught me: something about me wandering away from my bodyguards. I began to understand a little; somehow Edward had pissed this guy off and now he wanted revenge, that's what it seemed like.

As I found that there was no escape, James began to finish up his monologue, throwing out one or two little barbs for Bella before he ended it.

"Would you mind very much if I left a letter of my own for Edward?" James said, giving her the gentlest of smiles as she recoiled in horror. It wasn't anything new for me: just the camera he'd had out the day before, balanced over on a stereo so that it saw the whole room. I wondered again why he'd bothered to have me—to start the video on me, to have me in the shot of whatever he was going to do to Bella. I began to tremble and he looked over at me.

"What?" I snapped, affecting a very poorly acted bravado.

"I'm so sorry, Genny, dear. I forgot about you. And you could tell, couldn't you? Like I said, Bella." He winked at my sister. "I get a sense about my prey. And Genny here was probably just thinking about how unimportant she is compared to you."

"You said you wouldn't hurt her." Bella begged. "Please—"

"Oh, I'm not going to kill her: which is what I promised… I think." James laughed. "Who can remember? But really, kill a pretty thing like that?" I started to struggle to get up, finding then that something—probably Victoria—had broken my left leg, making me fall back against the glass wall. James clucked his tongue as he heard me gaps with pain and then he turned back to Bella. "No, I'm keeping her."

"_No!"_

"Which, really brings me to my next point." James said. I could tell now that he was really loving it, the drama. If he hadn't been a nutcase, I would have told him to try acting. He had the looks for it. I gritted my teeth and started to stand again, staying on my good leg. "I would just like to rub it in, just a little bit. The answer was there all along, and I was so afraid Edward would see that and ruin my fun. It happened once, oh, ages ago. The one and only time my prey escaped me. You see, the vampire who—"

Oh.

_Oh._

I understood now.

I was having a psychotic break from an animal attack: James was probably my doctor, who I'd glimpsed in a moment of consciousness… Victoria was… ambulance driver? That would be why I thought she'd brought me here… I tried to stand again and the pain cleared my head, forced my belief in reality to sharpen.

This was real.

I shuddered and leaned back against the glass, trying to get as far away from the man and my crazy sister as I could…

_Vampires are real_, I thought.

_And I think I'm about to become one._

_..._

I focused back in on the conversation just as James finished up, Isabella still standing across the room, her expression of horror reflected in every mirror.. "-no reason for me to touch her then." He sighed and I was surprised he didn't put a hand to his forehead, like people in old movies. "I destroyed the old one in vengeance."

"Alice." Bella gasped.

"Who the hell is Alice?" I demanded, my voice a garbled mess from my broken jaw. I was standing now, my voice weak with pain but still holding all the irritation I'd meant it to.

James glanced at me with a smile. "You'll understand soon, Genny. Patience. I have to take care of your sister, first."

"You can't—"

"Trust me, dear." James said soothingly. In an instant he was in front of me, breathing in with a smile. "You won't mind losing her. Not after I change you." He gave me a gentle kiss on the forehead, not even noticing as I struggled to break away from him. As he pulled back, his face was thoughtful. "Then again…" He said slowly. "I can't have you ruining my shot."

There was a loud crack and I screamed as I fell back to the ground again, clutching desperately at my second broken leg. James didn't even wait to see me fall, instead turning to my sister as she began to move toward me, yelling my name.

"_Gene-!"_

He dropped into a crouch and then he was on her, knocking her flying into a wall of glass. There was a sickening crack as she fell to the ground again, as shards exploded across the room. I hid my face behind my arm and felt bits of glass splinter into my flesh. I pulled down my arm to see James circling her like a vulture, admiring the wreckage.

"That's a very nice effect. I thought this room would be visually dramatic for my little film. That's why I picked this place to meet you. It's perfect, isn't it?"

"Bastard!" I yelled. It was all I could get out through the pain and my swelling mouth.

He turned and winked at me.

Then he walked over to my sister and placed a foot on her leg.

"Leave her alone!" I demanded, angry and slowly beginning to realize that if he changed me… if I became… like him… Was I going to be doing these things to someone? This thought was split in half as he stomped down hard and Bella screamed, her voice echoing with the snap of her leg. It was then that I had another thought: my sister was about to die. I was about to lose my sister, my sister who had come here to save me, and I was never going to get her back.

This BASTARD was stealing my family!

Stupidly—I cannot emphasize that word enough—I reached out and grasped a shard of glass, one almost as wide as my fist, and closed my hand around it. I don't know what I planned to do with it—throw it, maybe? And if so, how numb does a brain have to be before it considers throwing a piece of glass at a mad vampire?—but as soon as my hand closed over it, I felt it pierce my skin and I saw James turn and lock in on me like a shark finding a fish.

A drop of blood hit the floor.

I saw his face lose all humanity.

I saw the thirst take over.

I saw him arrive by my side, not caring as he yanked my hand up.

He sunk his teeth deep into my wrist and I felt the world seeping away.

His eyes flashed red as he drained the life from my body.

"Isabella?" I muttered, looking for her. She should run now. This was going to be her only chance.

But when I looked across the room and found her, she was already unconscious.

I see a flash of red as something grabbed James and yanked him away, my head hit the floor and I joined her.

And I dreamed of my sister screaming my name and begging for me to stay human.

…

Burning.

My hand was burning.

It hurt so much.

It hurts.

"It hurts."

"I know, pretty girl."

Pain explodes and blisters through my shattered body.

And then I'm lost in agony.

…

I find myself being carried, low voices surrounding me.

I smell smoke.

I smell perfume.

I smell blood.

Each scent grows stronger with the pain.

I scream.

I fall away again, pulling myself into the pain where the outside world can't touch me.

…

The rest of it was all dreams, dreams and pain that never seemed to end.

They were all nightmares.

They were all about James and Victoria.

They were all about blood and death.

I was losing myself, not just my consciousness, but my sanity. It was dripping away in agony, in dream after dream of a kind smile beneath red eyes, of a promise that I wouldn't stay human long, of an offering of a world where I would be special and different and there would be no Isabella to take any eyes off of me.

But all I wanted was a world without all this pain.

I was forever in that life: that life where every inch of me was fire and splinters, branding iron to my very core, a shock of brilliant pain washing over me like a wave of molten glass.

I kept my eyes screwed closed and my jaw tight against the screams that wanted to escape. Screaming wouldn't help. Seeing the fire that must have engulfed me would not help. I was in a losing battle for my life and all I had left was to endure and I was going to endure... Then...

I began to feel something new... a separate part of me... a part that could ignore it all, rather then simply push it away.

First it was simple, pinpricks, remembering Tyler's backing off and Bella leaving, Dad yelling at me and Mom letting me stay with him. Then I remembered Isabella walking into the ballet studio and I saw her about to die. After that I began to identify the pieces of pain: my legs both ached and itched at the same time. My brain felt like it was melting. My jaw was clamped tight as a vice, unable to move as I fought of a burst of fire through the crack in my jawbone.

Someone was calling.

As the pain faded, I began to hear my heartbeat. It was panicked and trembling, knowing it had flickered on past its proper time. We're supposed to be dead I thought, feeling my brain start to echo the feeling as its thoughts began to focus and therefore better feel the agony that was the new Genevieve Swan.

"Gen?"

That's not my name. That girl? She's dead. She's burning away and fading like flickering coals. She's leaked out of me and left a shell, a hollow bit of thirst and pain and anger. I don't understand anything that's happened, but as the fire starts to fade, as I feel calm return to the tips of my fingers and toes and flow inward… I know whose fault this is. James told me that much, he told Bella that much.

_Edward Cullen._

My heart took its last beats.

It flickered and died and took with it the last of Gen Swan.

_Edward Cullen._ I thought again.

I savored the hate that flickered through the shreds of my being. He'd broken me. How had James said it? What had James said? I was getting a little blurry there; my mind was far more concerned with the brilliant memories of fire scorching through my veins, turning me to diamond. It didn't care much about silly human memories… James had mentioned that, hadn't he? And I remembered that this was about Bella…

"Geeeeenny."

Again I was irritated, especially as the pain left and I began to take in my new senses. Genny? No. Genevieve. Genevieve, who was reeling as she felt her heart sputter and fall asleep, who was taking one last moment to absorb the lack of pain and the new feeling of invincibility. Who was using another part of her mind to remember who had brought this trouble on her and her family.

_Edward Cullen. _

I thought. And my first movement as a vampire was a slow and vicious grin.

_Edward Cullen needs to die._

_…_

_To be continued…?_


	2. Chapter 2

"I'll take _that_ look to mean you're awake?" A voice said.

For a second I was distracted. I recognized the voice, but it was deeper and even more melodic then it had been before. It played across my ears along with the sound of wind and cars on a faraway highway, the rattle and rustle of snakes and insects and burrowed animals. But my new quick mind got over this and almost lazily brought me to sit up and swing into a ready crouch in the time it took the old Gen to blink.

My grin was still pasted across my face as I opened my eyes and took in the miles of desert around us. I frowned as I took in the dust beneath my hands and shoes and found that the strands of dark hair that always fell across my face were dull and pale with a coat of sand.

"You?"

I should be angry. I should remember the pain he caused and hate him. And I suppose I am pretty furious: but now, with the power I feel, the strength, the brilliance of my new sense—not to mention the dedicated hate for Edward and the Cullens and even my sister—next to all of that, my possible grudge against the vampires who changed me is almost nothing.

"It's James." He said, giving me a slow predator's smile. "Remember?"

I shrugged and chose to stand up. Looking around the empty desert I stretched my limbs, reveling in the freedom and ease of movement. "Where's your friend?" I asked finally, beginning to shake the dust off.

"Victoria went for another snack." James told me. "We'd stopped for one but… she doesn't have much patience and it was something for her to do while we waited for you."

"You stopped…" I frowned, remembering. "I smelled… hospital."

He nodded. "You changed quite slowly… it was strange." He took a step closer and raised a hand to my long curls. "But look at you now."

"Covered in dust." I agreed. Then I glanced down at my wrist. "And bloo—"

I scowled as my throat suddenly responded to the thought, focusing all of my new senses on a new hunger, more intense than anything I'd ever felt. Then again, everything that was happening was more intense than anything I'd ever felt.

"Gen, Gen, Gen…" James laughed and pushed the curl of hair behind my ear. I frowned up at him, irritated at his familiarity but also realizing that his brilliant red eyes and chiseled smile were quite… attractive. If you were into that. He was a bit too, well, feral and dramatic for my taste. Still…

"Genevieve." I told him. "What am I?"

"A vampire." He said, his tone simple, like it was obvious. And it was obvious, just as it was unbelievable.

"So I'm thirsty for…" I swallowed hard. "Wow." I looked down at the new, glittering, elegant hands that now belonged to me. "Wow." I repeated.

"Just wait until you see yourself." James laughed. Then he laughed louder, lifting my chin with his hand so that my face was raised to the sun. "Wait until Victoria sees you."

"Victoria…" I stepped back, going from intimately close to feet away in an instant. "It's just the two of you… What do you want me for?"

"Victoria and I are…" He shook his head. "We were traveling with another until he betrayed us to your Cullens. You will—"

I interrupted him with a snarl, finding a temper even sharper then I remembered. "They're NOT my CULLENS." I snapped.

"Yes, Genevieve." James said. "But we'll deal with that later. For now, you must try and focus."

"Focus." I grumbled. My low, angry voice was still as beautiful and melodic as I'd found his. "On what? I barely know what's going on: how am I supposed to know what's important?"

"For now? Control." James said. "Control your temper, control your hunger, until—"

"Not really my strong suit." I interrupted.

James stepped close again, studying me. "No… it's not, is it?" He considered me for a long moment. "Well, it's a good thing you have us then."

And it was.

Everything I wondered, everything I needed to know about vampires, James taught me. I learned about the venom that changed me and that death would stop the change. I learned that fire and vampires were all that could kill me. I learned that I had to stay hidden and that there were strong vampires, older vampires who watched to make sure I would and would punish me if I didn't. I learned how to hunt.

I learned later that James had a talent: he had an insight into anything he hunted. He had an insight into how my brain worked. So it confuses me that he thought it was necessary to have Victoria bring me back my first meal or that he insisted it be someone who obviously walked on the wrong side of the world. The first man I killed drove out willingly with Victoria and when he saw the strange set up? He pulled a gun and shot James and then he shot me.

It was… funny.

But killing him? It was just… necessary. I would have thought that using my strength, using my power, would be fun and invigorating. But it was more… pathetic.

"Are the Cullens still after us?" I heard James ask Victoria after I finished burying the man in the middle of the desert.

"No. I called and gave them your message." Victoria's red eyes flashed toward me. "They won't bother us again."

"Why do you care about the Cullens?" I asked James.

James sighed and shook his head sadly: not because he felt for me, but for the dramatics again. "Do you mean you didn't know?" He laughed as I rolled my eyes. "Well, think, dear girl—" Victoria growled. "—What do you know about them?"

I didn't speak out loud: my vampire brain had gone through the facts and grown more puzzled in the time it would have taken to speak one word. Pale skin, inhuman good looks, went on hikes when it was sunny… "But their eyes."

"Yes." James agreed.

"Freaks." Victoria added.

I grinned at her. "Ok, I'm starting to like you. But why are they like that?"

"Gen… Genevieve," James corrected himself, walking over and putting a hand on my shoulder. I allowed him to turn me, pointing back to the dirt I'd disturbed by burying my victim. "What do vampires do?"

"Drink blood." I said, giving him an irritated look.

"Who's blood?"

"People's." I scowled. "They don't drink people's blood? How do they live?"

"They drink _animal _blood." Victoria sneered. "Freaks." She added.

"Freaks." James agreed, shaking his head.

"Freaks…" I agreed, muttering the word under my breath. I guess that did explain… No, it didn't. It only explained why the Cullen's hadn't killed me or Bella or anyone else in our high school. But how? I'd met that man and seconds later he'd been dead: I'd had no control. How had that dick fought hundreds of kids walking by him? How had he sat down to dinner with Dad, me, and Isabella and not left the house a murder scene? And why was he bothering with my sister at all?

"Troubled, Genevieve?" James asked.

I turned, wiping a bit of blood from my hand on the corner of my shirt. The outfit was completely destroyed any way. "Thinking about the Cullens. And my…" My teeth ground together with pressure that could have crushed a diamond. "_Sister_."

"Well, then…" James drawled before stopping for dramatic effect. The part of me that is now a monster starts to think lazily about how easy it will be too kill him. "It's time."

"Time?" I ask when his grin at my puzzled expression makes his smile grow wider and wider.

"Time to find Laurent." James said. "And find out just what we can do about that Cullen problem."

I watch him for a moment and then smile back.

And so my new life truly began.

...

Author's note:

This won't be as regularly updated, at least not until I have some idea of who she's going to end up with. It's a lot more separate from the actual events of the books and is going to take a bit more thinking on my part, but I'd really like to see where this goes so bear with me, ok? Awesome.

Like Stars in the Sky: Yeah, that's part of the reason I've taken so long to update. I don't want her to be evil, but having Gen naturally fall into the Cullen's vegetarian ways isn't quite right for her either. I already have planned the things that will start to make her think about who she is, but to start out... But no, she shouldn't be completely evil. I'm interested to see how Gen reacts to the things I have planned.

Debbie Hicks: Ok. Thanks for the comment.

coveryoureyes: lol ok! I'll do my best.

cpjjgj: that is my new theme song for this story. however, i keep forgetting that. so. :/ now i want to listen to that song.

LadyDelila: :) awesome, glad people like this! I'll do my best to keep it up.


	3. Chapter 3

It was finally night and I was finally alone.

I sat in the darkest corner of the hotel room, focused completely on the laptop James had reluctantly found for me in some random house we'd broken into. I wasn't sure if he'd been reluctant to leave me alone or to give me access to the computer and internet but there was something suspicious about that to me… Then again it wasn't what I felt like worrying about right now. After a moment more of thought, I buried it and thought only about catching up on the days I'd missed.

The first thing I found when I'd booted everything up and gotten past passwords and so on was that a week and a half had passed since Paul had called me up to LaPush. I took a moment to let my stone face turn to a frown: there was no real way to know how much time had been my change and how much time had been spent sleeping and drugged while James lured in my sister.

Though I could always ask him… I pursed my lips, considering how the conversation would go before I shook it off. I rather enjoyed this new life, but I wasn't going to trust James completely… Not yet.

The hotel moved with life around me, around the dead and beautiful thing I had become: I could hear their noise everywhere, could smell their perfume leaking through the towels I'd stuffed into the cracks around door. As I clicked through news and found my missing person article in the Phoenix newspapers, I thought back to all the people I'd walked past to get here, smiling as the men all did double takes and several women glared at my new face. I wondered about the man I'd killed and who it would be next. The rest of my mind was able to focus completely on fulfilling my curiosity.

The article didn't say much. As I kept searching, I saw very little that could tell me what Bella and Edward had cooked up to tell my dad. There were a couple clips of newscasts I was able to dredge up as well, mentioning briefly that Isabella had been attacked and her sister was now missing… presumed dead. There was footage of my dad going into the Phoenix hospital and a reporter saying he'd refused to comment, that my mom had refused to comment. The only thing I managed to learn was that my sister had just woken up…

So she was still in Phoenix.

Sh**.

I slammed the laptop shut, barely remembering not to crack it in half with my new strength. And of course James would know. I should have realized when he had changed his mind about heading to Forks, had allowed to me to take the reins when I was obviously still out of control and overwhelmed by the intensity of thirst and emotions and senses and vampires.

Sh**.

I wanted to kill him.

I wanted to kill Edward.

I didn't know what I wanted to do to Bella. I had too many questions, too many doubts about what was or wasn't real before I'd been bitten. I had wanted to keep her, had wanted to have my sister… but what if she did this to me?

I stared down at my bitten wrist: really? That was a concern? I loved being a vampire. I loved the eyes that followed me, the exhilaration. But… But I was so _hungry._ Thirsty? Oh, god, the smell leaking through the cracks in the door… It was like fire, like poison in my throat.

I had no choice.

_But not here._

"Eaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!" I roared in frustration. Frustration at Isabella and thirst and cameras and keeping secret.

Why not here? There were plenty of shadows, plenty places to hide my… my snack… And I had no choice, not now that I had started to think of it. Not now that my entire being was slowing fading to a pair of fangs and a thirst closer to the feel of addiction then to hunger.

I stood up sharply and just as quickly was crouching to catch the computer before it fell even an inch from where I'd held it in my stone cold lap. Frozen before me was an article, a set of pictures, a set of smiling twins whose lives had just been ripped in two separate directions. The school pictures of a dead girl named Gen and a traitor named Isabella.

I repeated that thought in my mind as the burn in my throat grew stronger.

Gen Swan is dead.

Then I slipped open the window and crept out into the darkness.

…

I made my way down the main street until I found myself in the worst neighborhood; it was the only place people were still moving around. I'd found three targets I thought I could sneak off with and was wondering how much it might matter which one I chose when a new scent trickled by.

I stiffened and was instantly facing down the alley I'd been peering out of. My new red eyes pierced through the dark to find the vampire I'd smelled.

"Genevieve."

I snarled.

Edward Cullen raised his hands before him, the picture of nonthreatening. I crept closer, ready to lunge.

"Genevieve, wait." Edward insisted. He took a step back as I crept closer. He looked so tired. How could a vampire feel tired? All I felt was life. "Genevieve, please hear me out."

"James said that I'm stronger then you now." I observed, stepping closer again as the thoughts of him with Bella, thoughts of James grabbing me because of whatever Edward had done to him flashed through my mind. "Dick."

Edward winced at the sound of my new voice and winced again at the insult. "I know this is my fault, Genevieve. I've made some mistakes… but—"

"But nothing." I stood, straightening to give him a look at the new Genevieve, hoping he noted the red in my eyes. "You ran off to save her and left me with _nothing_. You left me to be taken; you left me to die!" I accused, my voice growing louder. "What were you doing in Forks? What were you doing with my sister? Why couldn't you have left all of us_ alone_?"

Edward closed his eyes. "I… I know." He opened them again and I sneered; they were yellow, a gold that meant he was a freak. "But let me help you. Let me do what I can to _fix this_." My passion was echoed in his voice, begging instead of yelling. He meant what he said.

But what was there to fix? My father, my sister, my friends; I would kill them as soon as look at them. Nothing Edward could do to fix that.

"It just takes time." Edward said softly, still pleading. "Gen, I've been there." I stared at him, not wanting to look at him but hypnotized by the strangeness of sadness in a vampire's face. "We all have. But you don't have to kill. You don't have to be a monster."

"Oh, you just wish I'd have died so you could have gone on with Bella like nothing happened." I stepped closer, finding myself close enough that I could look up straight into his guilty face. "But I'm here. And I'm coming after _all_ of you." Dickhead winced. "And you can't stop me."

"Gen." Edward held out a hand as though he wanted me to take it, as though he wanted to lead me away from the mess I'd been plopped into. "You can come with us."

"I'm not going to become another little sheep in the Cullen clan." I spat.

"Fine." Edward said, starting to sound desperate. "There are others like us. You don't have to be alone—the Denalis—"

"You can't stop me from hunting you and you can't stop me from hunting humans."

"I'm not letting you do something you'll regret." Edward said simply.

"Oh?" I said, grinning delightedly. "You really think you have a say in this mess anymore?"

I saw movement out of the corner of my eye. Within the next second I had leapt back to the entrance of the alley and landed in a crouch with my teeth bared at the site of Jasper and Rosalie Hale. They showed their fangs to me, each just as ready to attack. Edward stood between us, just out of the way if they decided to charge me.

"Come with us, Gen." Edward said, trying to calm me. "We can help."

I glared at him, taking in the three of them with furious eyes. This wasn't a fight I could win, not for sure. And go with them? The idiots who'd gotten me into this mess?

I shook my head.

I ran.

…

I returned to the hotel in an incredibly foul mood to find Victoria and James waiting in the room. Victoria was glaring out the window. James had sprawled out on the unneeded bed. They both turned to frown at me while I shut the door behind me.

"I thought we were going to see my sister." I said quietly.

"Bella?" James asked. "Mmm. Yes, we're going to wait for her in Forks."

"She's in Phoenix." I said, remembering my search through the news. My temper was already close to boiling over again.

"And you are not ready to see her." James said. "Meanwhile, Forks has cloud cover and we know it much better. By the time she is near again, you'll have more control over your thirst."

"Good to hear." I grumbled. I stalked past him and picked up the computer, wondering what the heck I was supposed to do with my time if I didn't have to eat or sleep or go to school. And I couldn't talk to my friends. And I couldn't play basketball with them. And human contact in general was seeming either boring or tasty, depending on how my thoughts on each possibility ended. "But what do we do until then?" I made my way to the window in a second, brushing past him so quickly a human wouldn't have been able to see.

James was beside me just as quickly.

"We find Laurent. We teach you how to fight and use your strength right." He smiled as I scowled up at him. "Maybe we even find you a friend. The Cullen clan certainly has some numbers… Do you know anyone who would like to be a vampire, Genevieve?" He smirked.

I turned back to the window, my anger pushed down as I searched for a way to express it and found nothing. I needed one of them in front of me, one of the Cullens. All I had were the pictures in my head of what I could do when I found them, pictures of what they'd taken from me and what I could take instead. But yet again I wondered: what was I so angry about?

And where was I going to go?

...

Author's Note:

Slow. Updates. For. Everything.

But got inspired for this one so here it is! Have most of a chapter for SWBL done too so that should come soon. Not sure how I feel about it: want to get her into a bit more action but she's still figuring out what everything means so... hope you like!

Reviews!

tysedon: Thank you! And yes, this is my second priority and is a little weird to write at the same time. But i write what i can.

Fire and Ash: Thank you! Sorry I'm so slooooow.

halem847: Hmmm. Yes. super helpful. Definately the reason i started this one was to be more original. Unfortunately it's still easier to be super canon so I'm still playing with what I want to do. But rereading this comment just sparked some ideas so we'll see. Thank you!

bookadict45: here you go! Sorry I'm a sloth when i comes to writing.

Maiannaise: Thank you ;)

Lightbabe: Hope you enjoy!

bridgetlynn: AAaw, you're so sweet! Thank you for reading. Hope you've gotten more sleep in the... months?... i've taken to write this.

January Lily: we'll see how it goes: we all know how long it takes for me to decide anything. Thakns for the support!


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